Image via Juxtapoz.

It seems that no one can resist a good DIY urban intervention. Whether it’s a guerilla pay phone library or a cheeky face painted on a brick wall, there is something about these public gestures that reawakens the quotidian. In remixing our hardened concepts of space, they not only make us laugh or smile, but they make us momentarily aware of our immediate surroundings.

Since 2006, Austrian artist Werner Reiterer has been bringing tokens of interior grandeur out onto the street with his Street Chandeliers, but the most recent iteration of his project is more ‘street’ than ever. As we saw on Juxtapoz, Reiterer’s latest opulent light fixture dangles from a lackluster pole anchored to a small parking lot. Letting out a soft, golden glow, this Street Chandelier looks jarringly out of place, warping the urban fabric with its surreal presence. Good luck dusting that thing, though.

A sketch for Reiterer’s original concept, 2005. Image via 21C Museum.

by Kelly Chan

posted in New Projects

tagged chandelier, cities, city, intervention, street art, urbanism, Werner Reiterer

more articles by Kelly Chan